REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s new in Build 18317Separating Search and Cortana

Going forward, we’ll be decoupling Search and Cortana in the taskbar. This will enable each experience to innovate independently to best serve their target audiences and use cases. Some Insiders have had this update for a few weeks now, and we appreciate all the feedback we’ve received about it so far! For those new to this update, when it rolls out to you, you’ll find clicking the search box in the taskbar now launches our experience focused on giving you the best in house search experience and clicking the Cortana icon will launch you straight into our voice-first digital assistant experience.

Other available Search and Cortana settings have also now been split between the two, along with the familiar group policies.

As some of you may already know, up until now Start in Windows 10 has been hosted by something called ShellExperienceHost.exe. In order to provide you the best possible Start experience, we’re separating it into its own process, called StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. This has a number of benefits, including simplifying debugging and insulating Start from potential issues impacting other surfaces. This has been running as an experiment for a few weeks now and we’ve seen measurable improvements in the reliability amongst those that have the change, so we’re rolling it out to everyone.

We’re also making a change so that Start no longer suspends, which improves launch time.

A Better Font management experience in Settings

Insiders today can now drag and drop font files from File Explorer into the modern Settings > Fonts page to install them. After installation, click on the font in the Font page, to view the different font faces associated with the font and all the details of the font. You can also uninstall the font from this font details page. Drag and drop font installation by default is installed as a per-user font which does not require elevation, hence it will not be available for other users. To install the font for all users in the device, use the “Install for all Users” option by right clicking the font on file explorer.

A simpler Windows Insider Program Settings page

We are introducing a simplified Windows Insider Program Settings page via Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program with Build 18317. The goal is to make the end-to-end experience of signing up for the Windows Insider Program and setting up your PC to take new builds much easier by simplifying the experience and removing some of the clutter. You’ll find that all the same functionality is still there.

Under “Pick your Insider settings” is where you can change your Insider ring on your PC.

Windows Console Updates

We’ve made several fixes & improvements in Windows Console in and leading up to build 18317, including:

Significantly improved performance of ConPTY – perf now very close to “raw pipe”

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer unexpectedly having a lock on USBs when trying to safely eject them.

We fixed an issue resulting in frequent bugchecks (GSODs) in the last two flights, citing an error with bindflt.sys.

We fixed an issue resulting in frequent bugchecks (GSODs) in the last flight, citing error KERNEL_LOCK_ENTRY_LEAKED_ON_THREAD_TERMINATION.

We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to connect to VMs using Hyper-V console after upgrading to recent flights. This issue also impeded the ability to connect to VMs with Enhanced Sessions enabled.

We fixed an issue resulting in some full screen games showing a black screen in recent flights even though they worked in windowed mode.

We fixed an issue resulting in CDP User Service periodically unexpectedly using a high amount of CPU in recent flights.

We fixed an issue causing text in the Windows Security app to be incorrect or potentially missing altogether.

We fixed an issue from recent flights where clicking the network button on the sign-in screen didn’t work.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain devices not being able to wake from hibernation recently. There were two possible symptoms on wake if you were impacted – one was a black screen, one was a screen that continued to say “hibernating…”.

We fixed an issue resulting in Display Settings crashing in recent builds. If you were impacted, this would have also had the symptom that clicking System or Ease of Access from the main Settings page may crash Settings.

We fixed an issue with certain touch keyboard languages where pressing AltGr + [any key] on the full layout would dismiss the touch keyboard.

We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox wouldn’t launch on PCs with multiple GPUs.

When Scan Mode is on and Narrator is on a slider, the left and right arrows will decrease and increase the slider. Up and down arrows will continue to navigate to the previous or next paragraph or item. Home and End will move the slider to the beginning or the end.

The Narrator list of headings command now works as expected in Chrome.

We improved Narrator support for Microsoft Teams.

For cursor and pointer, fixed returning to the right mouse pointers when changing back to the original size and colors.

We fixed an issue where some devices would fail to install an update with error code If you are updating from 18309 or newer this issue will be fixed for this update, if you are updating from a build prior to 18309 it will be fixed for the next update.

Known issues

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) will likely cause a bugcheck (GSOD) when using certain Linux binaries such as VI and tar. If you require WSL to work, please pause taking flights until the issue is fixed. [uPDATE 1/17] WSL should work correctly on this build – our apologies for the mix up.

The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.

Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).

Clicking your account in Cortana Permissions doesn’t bringing up the UI to sign out from Cortana (if you were already signed in) for some users in this build.

Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

When attempting to update this build some S Mode devices will download and restart but fail the update.

Night light functionality is impacted by a bug in this build. We’re working on a fix, and it will be included in an upcoming build.

When you open Action Center the quick actions section may be missing.

Windows feature update may fail but show up as a successful update in Windows Update history page. If this happens you will see more than one successful install for the same update in the history page.

When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.

There is an issue impacting a small number of users enrolled in Microsoft Intune where they may not receive policies. Those policies are not applied and left in a “pending“ state on the server. The workaround is to go to Settings/Accounts/Access work or school and “Disconnect” your Azure AD account and then re-enroll.

Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.

Update Orchestrator Service stops working periodically. A fix will be included in an upcoming build. As a result of this issue, you may see an error on Windows Update Settings saying that the update failed to restart. If you see this, restarting using the power menu in Start (“Update and restart”) should work, although there’s a chance that it won’t.

Closing the lid to a laptop and re-opening can cause icons in the task bar to appear blank. To fix this open task manager and restart explorer.exe or reboot.

If you download a theme from Microsoft Store, it won’t appear in Themes Settings.

Known issues for Developers

If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates

We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These “lite” versions of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button.

REMINDER: The 19H1 Bug Bash starts next week!

The 19H1 Bug Bash in Feedback Hub will span from January 23th, 2019 to February 3rd, 2019 – we look forward to seeing your feedback! There will be a special bug bash edition webcast on Tuesday, January 29th at 10am PST.

Join the Bing Insider Program

Searching on Bing can be music to your ears! Keep up to date with Billboard’s Top 100. Discover trending musicand explore music videos and lyrics to your favorite songs. If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insider Program.

REMINDER: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If this makes you uncomfortable, you may want to consider switching to the Slow ring. Slow ring builds will continue to be higher quality.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s new in Build 18334 Help gaming on Windows and play State of Decay!

Note: we only have a small number of available slots currently, so don’t wait too long to sign up. But if you don’t get in this time, don’t worry, we’ll be expanding over the next few weeks so you’ll have more chances. Thanks for making Windows gaming better!

Instructions:

If you have an Xbox Live Gamertag, go to step 2 below. If you don’t have a Gamertag, use your Microsoft Account (MSA) to log into https://account.xbox.com and create an Xbox account. Once completed, you will see your Gamertag in the top right of the page.

As part of the game launch, you’ll be prompted to install DirectX. This is for testing purposes, so go ahead and do the install, and the game will launch afterwards.

If you find any issues with the install, or if the game fails to launch, please file a Feedback Hub bug under the Microsoft Store category (pick Download or Install depending on your issue), and include WindowsGamingFeedback in the title.

Known issues:

BattleEye software (used by Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and other popular games) does not work correctly with builds flighted to the Windows Insider Fast ring since December. If you have a PC that is not already enrolled in Windows Insider Fast, and you play games that use BattleEye software, we recommend you don’t join Windows Insider Fast on that PC.

If you don’t have access to the State of Decay test game, be sure to use the same Microsoft Account (MSA) and Gamertag for the Xbox Insider hub and the Microsoft Store app.

If you experience an error related to DirectX, please first file a Feedback Hub bug following the instructions above, and then try the following:

Launch the game again. This should trigger the DirectX installer to run which should fix any issues caused by previous install failures.

If the above doesn’t work, uninstall State of Decay by right-clicking Start, selecting Apps and Features, and then selecting Uninstall for the State of Decay entry. Then try the download and install again.

If the Install button in the Store doesn’t work, please first file a Feedback Hub bug following the instructions above, and then try the following:

Restart your PC and try the install again.

If the above, doesn’t work, click Start, search for ‘wsreset’ and run that command, then try the install again.

There is an intro video that plays at the start of the State of Decay test game which is squeezed into a thin line on left side of screen. Please ignore this issue; the game works fine once the title screen appears.

If you have a Microsoft Account on your machine which is a Child account and have Parental Controls turned on for that account, the State of Decay test game won’t install. We are investigating a fix for this in a forthcoming Windows flight.

You can install and run the State of Decay test game in a Virtual Machine (VM) if you aren’t able to test on real hardware; the download and install will work fine, but you will experience slow performance when running the game itself. Note: downloading and installing is still very helpful to find issues!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

REMINDER: The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is designed to be on by default, however the default state is not currently in effect for current Insider Preview builds. You may see a new recommendation in the Windows Security app suggesting you turn this setting on.

We fixed an issue resulting in a recent increase in taskbar icons becoming blank.

We fixed an issue resulting in Settings crashing when going to Color Filters.

We fixed an issue resulting in Sign-in Settings crashing recently under certain conditions.

We fixed an issue where changing the state of the Hey Cortana toggle in Settings wouldn’t stick.

We fixed an issue where the Cortana section of Settings was visible in regions where Cortana wasn’t supported.

We fixed an issue where the icons and text in the new Settings header were misaligned an certain window sizes.

We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected blank space in the navigation pane in Privacy Settings.

We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft David speaking when previewing voices under Settings > Time & Language > Speech, regardless of which actual voice was selected.

We fixed an issue resulting in unexpected double spaces when listing the active hours under Windows Update Settings.

When you set focus to search the search box will now have an accent colored border.

We fixed an issue where the Search box in the taskbar was no longer dark when dark mode was enabled.

We fixed an issue where recent activities in Search would use a white icon in light theme even if a dark icon was available.

We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu resetting back to default on reboot for some users.

We fixed an issue resulting in Shutdown and Restart options in Start’s power menu not showing up in a remote desktop session.

We fixed an issue where having Cortana open would result in an invisible File Explorer window being shown as open in the taskbar.

We fixed an issue resulting in unexpected “The item you selected is unavailable” errors when interacting with jump list list items.

We fixed an issue where explorer.exe would crash if you shared a file via Nearby Sharing and then turned off Nearby Sharing.

We fixed an issue where the File Explorer title bar would blend into black backgrounds when dark theme was enabled.

We fixed an issue resulting in an error when extracting files on the last 2 flights.

We fixed an issue where attempting to set default file association for a filetype that was not explicitly declared as supported by a Win32 app would fail.

We fixed an issue resulting in mouse lag when certain XAML dropdowns were open.

We fixed an issue where unzipping files would throw an error.

We fixed an issue where when files were grouped by date, files that were actually downloaded last month would say “A long time ago” if it was January and the files were downloaded in December.

We fixed an issue resulting in some apps not going full screen properly if the app started from being snapped to the side of the screen. This issue also resulted in the taskbar appearing on top of full screen videos in this scenario, and could result in apps slowly shifting offscreen if repeatedly toggle between snapped and fullscreen.

We fixed an issue resulting in some languages not being able to type in UWP apps recently – Buginese, Friulian, and Gothic were among those impacted.

We fixed an issue impacting the Japanese IME in certain apps, like Microsoft Teams, where if you tried to finalize a converted string by typing, the converted string would disappear.

We fixed two issues impacting the ability to adjust brightness in recent flights.

We fixed an issue that could result in notifications unexpectedly being drawn at the wrong scale fact (too large, or too small).

We fixed an issue where the value in Narrator Settings “Change the level of detail Narrator provides about text and control” might be empty.

We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox may launch to a black screen for some users.

Narrator now announces headings at all verbosity levels.

Improved reading of pull-down menus in the Skype desktop client with Narrator.

Continued to refine reading experiences for Chrome as well as some interaction with controls such as combo boxes and expandable buttons.

Made moving by heading more reliable with Narrator and Chrome.

Resolved an issue when changing the navigation mode on the Baum VarioUltra when used with Narrator.

Small app update news for those in Skip Ahead: We’re rolling out Weather app version 4.28.10351.0 to you, which addresses an issue in which the Weather live tile either wouldn’t work at all, or worked but highlighted the wrong location (depending on your configuration). Thanks everyone who reached out about this, we appreciate your patience while we investigated the issue – the app update will be rolling out to other rings soon.

Known issues

The Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly. This may occur after upgrade, restart, or settings changes.

Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).

Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

While night light functionality is back up and running, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space.

When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.

Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.

After upgrade, there might be two Narrator voices talking at the same time. Reboot the machine once, this issue will go away.

Some of the Real-Time Protection options for Malwarebytes Premium are not able to be turned on.

MSA user after password change may not be able to login at next attempt. Reboot fixes the problem.

If Magnifier is enabled and set to docked mode, machine will crash and reboot on sign-in creating a boot loop. We recommend anyone who uses Magnifier to disable docked mode for this flight. A fix for this will be in an upcoming build. For users who upgraded and encountered this reboot condition, you can try turning off Magnifier by pressing Win + Esc at sign-in, then change the Magnifier View to Lens or Full screen in the Magnifier settings.

Known issues for Developers

If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates

We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button.

Microsoft Ignite | The Tour

The Windows Insider Team is hitting the road for Ignite The Tour! If you can be in Sydney on February 13th – 14th, please come and see us. We will be hosting an Insider session at each conference as well as an “off hours” event for Insiders in each city!

Join the Bing Insider Program

Music’s Biggest Night is just around the corner, so make sure to stay up to date with Bing. Explore the category nominees for Sunday’s 61st Annual Grammy Awards, listen to nominated songs and albums, and test your knowledge with a Grammy Awards quiz.

If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing insider Program.

[uPDATED] PCs with the following chipsets processor model numbers will not receieve this build due to an issue with Connected Standby: Intel64 Family 6 Model 142 and Intel64 Family 6 Model 158. To check to see if your processor falls into these two buckets:

Step 1: Open Device Manager by right-clicking on the Start button on your taskbar.Step 2: Open up the Processors group and right-click on one of the processors listed (you will see multiple for each core of the processor in your PC).Step 3: Click properties and go to the Details tab.Step 4: Choose “Hardware Ids” in the property dropdown. This will give you the model number of your processor.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s New in Build 18342Improving Gaming on Windows 10

Thanks to everyone who signed up to try out our new Windows gaming technology in Build 18334. With today’s new build (Build 18342), we have some fixes that we can’t wait to have folks try out: the game now runs correctly with parental controls enabled, and the install process is more stable (including a fix for the game being stuck in “Pending” instead of downloading).

If you have already tried State of Decay and everything worked: we’d appreciate you uninstalling State of Decay and then trying the install again, to make sure everything still works.

If you have already tried State of Decay and something didn’t work: please try again and see if your issue has been addressed. If not, it would help us a lot if you let us know using the Feedback Hub in Windows (instructions here in this post). Even if you already sent feedback on the issue before, it’s very helpful to know that it’s still happening on a new version of Windows.

If you were not able to get a slot for State of Decay:we’ve opened up more slots now, so just go to the Xbox Insider hub and click Insider content to join. NOTE: we’re still limiting availability as we roll out, so we recommend joining right away. If you miss out this time, don’t worry, we’ll be adding more again soon!

If you are trying State of Decay for the first time: just do the following:

If you see any problems downloading or installing the game, or if important functionality like game saving isn’t working, please be sure to use the Feedback Hub to tell us. And thank you again for helping us find any issues!

Linux Files inside of File Explorer

We added the ability for users to access Linux files in a WSL distro from Windows. These files can be accessed through the command line, and also Windows apps, like File Explorer, VSCode, etc. can interact with these files. Access your files by navigating to \\wsl$\<distro_name>, or see a list of running distributions by navigating to \\wsl$. You can learn more about this here.

Other Updates for Insiders

New Chrome Extension for Timeline: We’re pleased to announce an extension that collects activities from your Google Chrome browser and adds them to your Timeline in Windows. You can download the new Web Activity extension now from the Chrome Web Store. Just sign-in to the extension on your Chrome browser with your Microsoft account, visit a site in Chrome, then watch it appear on Timeline – and pick up where you left off. Your Chrome activities will also sync with Timeline on Android devices using the Microsoft Launcher app. Give the new extension a try and let us know what you think in the Feedback Hub. This is just one of many updates inspired by Insiders to make Timeline even better!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

The new tamper protection setting in the Windows Security app protects your device by helping to prevent bad actors from tampering with the most important security settings. The setting is now on by default for Insider Preview builds.

We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox would not start on localized builds.

We’ve done some work to improve error reporting in Windows Sandbox. Now the error dialog includes the error code and a link to the Feedback Hub.

We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox was unexpectedly throwing an error due to referencing a deleted file under Windows.old.

Windows Sandbox now captures hotkeys in full screen.

Windows Sandbox now supports configuration files! These files allow users to configure some aspects of the sandbox, such as vGPU, networking and shared folders. A blog post to explain this new feature will be available here.

We improved the capabilities of the wsl.exe command line interface, by adding new features such as importing and exporting distros and consolidating existing features from wslconfig.exe, such as listing distros and setting defaults.

We fixed an issue where if the Magnifier was enabled and set to docked mode, machine would crash and reboot on sign-in creating a boot loop.

We fixed an issue resulting in build unable to log into WinRE with an admin account in the last couple of flights.

We fixed an issue where if you unpinned groups from Start, apps might end up thinking their tiles were still pinned.

We fixed an issue resulting in being unable to re-arrange pinned folders in Start’s tile grid.

We fixed an issue where the text explaining the Downloads section of Storage Sense had unexpected characters in it.

We fixed an issue where Settings would sometimes crash when opening “Advanced Display Settings” from Display Settings.

We fixed an issue where after changing an app’s audio endpoint, it might no longer follow master volume changes.

We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to add a drive to the list of folders to exclude when setting up Enhanced Search in Settings.

We fixed an issue with the Settings header at certain window sizes where long names might be truncated in the middle, rather than wrapping properly.

We fixed an issue from the previous flight where right-clicking the desktop would bring up a light colored context menu in dark theme.

We fixed an issue impacting Emoji Panel and Clipboard History reliability.

We’ve made another fix to address reports of devices getting stuck with “Hibernating…” text on the screen on resume from hibernate.

We fixed an issue that could cause Windows logon to forget the last logged on user, and instead would display the sign-in prompt for the default user from the list after dismissing the lock screen.

We fixed an issue where an issue where some of the Real-Time Protection options for Malwarebytes Premium are not able to be turned on.

We fixed an issue resulting in Internet Explorer’s menu bar not always appearing if enabled.

We fixed an issue resulting in CDPUserSVC using an unexpectedly large amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time.

We fixed an issue resulting in DWM crashing frequently for some Insiders on the previous flight.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain games recently going into a black screen/not responding state if their resolution was lower than 1920*1080 and the game entered fullscreen.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain games no longer rendering UI updates (appearing visually stuck) after using Alt + Tab to quickly switch away and back to the game.

We fixed an issue resulting in significant video and audio lag when projecting videos from certain devices on recent builds.

We fixed an issue where turning off Location from the Action Center might take multiple clicks to react.

We fixed an issue resulting in single Unicode character insertion failing for IMEs, the touch keyboard, and the Emoji Panel in certain types of edit controls recently.

We fixed an issue resulting in the left and right arrows on the touch keyboard inserting 4 and 6, respectively, in certain languages.

We fixed an issue where newly installed apps might not show up in search results.

We fixed an issue resulting in the Search pane becoming truncated if launched after rotating the device orientation from horizontal to vertical.

We fixed a high impact issue resulting in a decrease in Start reliability in the last couple of flights.

We fixed a recent issue where if you hid the search icon in the taskbar, a number of win32 apps would unexpectedly redraw when opening the Start menu.

We fixed an issue that could result in unexpected flickering if you used pen or touch in certain win32 apps to launch a second instance of the app when in tablet mode.

Have a need to create a file that starts with a dot? File Explorer will now allow you to rename a file to be something like “.gitignore” – previously there would be an error siting that you needed to provide a name.

We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer potentially hanging when trying to rename, delete, or move MKV files in the previous flight.

We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders not being able to open Cortana when in Tablet Mode.

We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar blinking if an AC adapter was attached when the device had less than 20% battery.

We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar disappearing for a second when dismissing Start/Cortana/Search on a secondary monitor.

We’re updating the name of the “Windows Light” theme to now be “Windows (light)”.

We fixed an issue where Cortana’s icon on secondary monitors wouldn’t update colors after switching between light and dark theme.

We fixed an issue where when using light theme + small icons + a vertical taskbar orientation, text written on the taskbar would stay white and thus wouldn’t be readable.

We fixed an issue that could result in open apps not being shown on the taskbar (but being visible in Alt + Tab).

We fixed an issue resulting in greys having an unexpected slight pinkish/purple-ish tinge on some devices in recent flights.

We fixed an issue that could result in DWM crashing after enabling high contrast.

We fixed an issue in Ease of Access’s Cursor and pointer settings, mouse pointer size and color are now retained on upgrade. There is a remaining issue with mouse pointer showing white color instead of the selected color after signing out and signing back in.

When using the Magnifier with larger pointers, it pans smoothly as the pointers change shape.

We fixed an issue where navigation mode on Orbit display could not be changed.

We fixed an issue where Narrator paused unexpectedly when reading through a PDF.

We fixed an issue where users were unable to join or switch between Windows Insider rings.

We fixed an issue where the Windows Security app may show an unknown status for the Virus & threat protection area, or not refresh properly.

Known issues

Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).

Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

While we’ve done some work to improve night light reliability in this build, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space.

When performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled the user will need to initiate an extra reboot to ensure Reserved Storage is working again properly.

Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.

In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes.

Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in.

We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working.

Known issues for Developers

If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates

We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button.

Join the Bing Insider Program

The 91st Academy Awards will honor the best films of 2018 this Sunday. Find out everything you need to know before the ceremony with Bing. Check out this year’s nominees in each category, explore all nominated films, check out local showtimes, and even see who Bing predicts will go home with an award. Bing also gives you a red carpet rewind to see the best of Oscars fashion. Looking for something more competitive? Test your knowledge with the Bing Oscars quiz or cast your vote with the Oscar’s ballot.

If you want to be among the first to learn about these Bing features, join our Bing Insider Program.

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing 20H1 Build 18841 to Windows Insiders who have opted into Skip Ahead. Remember – these builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is “nearly finished and ready” we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1.

IMPORTANT: As is normal with builds early in the development cycle, these builds may contain bugs that might be painful for some. If you take this flight, you won’t be able to switch back to the Fast or Slow rings without doing a clean-install on your PC and starting over.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

Windows Sandbox now supports configuration files! These files allow users to configure some aspects of the sandbox, such as vGPU, networking and shared folders. A blog post to explain this new feature is available here.

Windows Sandbox now captures hotkeys in full screen.

We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox would not start on localized builds.

We’ve done some work to improve error reporting in Windows Sandbox. Now the error dialog includes the error code and a link to the Feedback Hub.

We fixed an issue where Windows Sandbox was unexpectedly throwing an error due to referencing a deleted file under Windows.old.

We fixed an issue where if you unpinned groups from Start, apps might end up thinking their tiles were still pinned.

We fixed a recent issue where if you hid the search icon in the taskbar, a number of win32 apps would unexpectedly redraw when opening the Start menu.

We fixed an issue resulting in the Search pane becoming truncated if launched after rotating the device orientation from horizontal to vertical.

We fixed an issue where Settings would sometimes crash when opening “Advanced Display Settings” from Display Settings.

We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to add a drive to the list of folders to exclude when setting up Enhanced Search in Settings.

We fixed an issue where there were unexpected characters in the text under the Storage Sense listing for temporary files.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain games no longer rendering UI updates (appearing visually stuck) after using Alt + Tab to quickly switch away and back to the game.

We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar blinking if an AC adapter was attached when the device had less than 20% battery.

We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar disappearing for a second when dismissing Start/Cortana/Search on a secondary monitor.

We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer potentially hanging when trying to rename, delete, or move MKV files in the recent flights.

We fixed an issue that could cause Windows logon to forget the last logged on user, and instead would display the sign-in prompt for the default user from the list after dismissing the lock screen.

We fixed an issue resulting in CDPUserSVC using an unexpectedly large amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time.

We fixed an issue where the newly added popup window shadows might unexpectedly stop appearing after using your PC for some time.

We fixed an issue impacting UWP apps resulting in entries under a “…” that launched other apps not working after the first time the secondary app was launched.

We fixed an issue resulting in the left and right arrows on the touch keyboard inserting 4 and 6, respectively, in certain languages.

We fixed an issue resulting in the game bar record and broadcast options unexpectedly not working in recent builds.

We fixed an issue impacting Emoji Panel and Clipboard History reliability.

We fixed an issue in Ease of Access’s Cursor and pointer settings, mouse pointer size and color are now retained on upgrade. There is a remaining issue with mouse pointer showing white color instead of the selected color after signing out and signing back in.

When using the Magnifier with larger pointers, it pans smoothly as the pointers change shape.

We fixed an issue where navigation mode on Orbit braille display could not be changed.

We fixed an issue where Narrator paused unexpectedly when reading through a PDF.

[ADDED] We fixed the issue that required an additional reboot when performing Reset this PC and selecting Keep my files on a device that has Reserved Storage enabled.

Known issues

Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).

While we’ve done some work to improve night light reliability in this build, we’re continuing to investigate issues in this space.

Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.

In Windows Sandbox, if you try to navigate to the Narrator settings, Settings app crashes.

Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in.

Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

You may experience an increase in Start menu reliability issues on this build – a fix will be included in the next flight.

Known issues for Developers

If you install any of the recent builds from the Skip Ahead and switch to either the Fast ring or the Slow ring – optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

If you are looking for a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring – head on over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle (which currently is 19H1).

What’s New in Build 18348Emoji 12.0 Update

With Build Build 18277, Insiders got their first look at the Emoji 12.0 emoji. In early February, the set of emoji to be included with Emoji 12.0 was finalized by Unicode, and with today’s build when you press WIN+(period) or WIN+(semicolon), all of these emoji now have keywords hooked up to make them easy to search for. Try it once you install the build! Keywords include otter, sloth, waffle, ballet shoes, and more.

If you haven’t tried it already, be sure to also check out our new Kaomoji and Symbols section in the picker – makes it super easy to type things like (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ or em dash!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

We’ve made some adjustments to improve WIN+(period) reliability.

We fixed an issue that could result in the Start menu not launching if the GPO to turn off the all apps list in Start was enabled.

We fixed an issue where the default Microsoft Word web tile pinned to Start (in the case where Office wasn’t installed) was unexpectedly launching Microsoft Edge in inPrivate mode.

We fixed an issue resulting in Microsoft Edge sometimes crashing when editing or tabbing through PDFs.

We fixed an issue that could result in the lock screen unexpectedly not dismissing until Ctrl+Alt+Del was pressed.

We fixed an issue where if high contrast mode was enabled during Windows setup, that state wouldn’t persist first logon.

Note: We’re rolling back the new Settings header from 100% to 50% of Insiders on Home and non-domain joined Pro edition PCs. This is so we can have a side by side comparison to help evaluate quality in both on and off state. We’ll let you know when the rollout increases again.

We fixed an issue where Narrator continuous reading in Edge did not keep the text cursor at the position where reading was started from.

We fixed an issue where Narrator Scan mode down arrow navigation might get stuck when reading in Chrome.

In Windows Sandbox, Settings app no longer crashes when you navigate to the Narrator settings.

Known issues

Launching games that use anti-cheat software may trigger a bugcheck (GSOD).

Creative X-Fi sound cards are not functioning properly. We are partnering with Creative to resolve this issue.

Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.

Mouse pointer color might be incorrectly switched to white after signing out and signing back in.

If you use third party apps to adjust the color of your screen, we’ve made a fix with this build to address feedback that certain apps were no longer working. We’re continuing to investigate feedback in this space.

For display calibration scenarios, monitors may be missing in the built-in Color Management application. As a work around, please use the Settings app to select color profile instead, under the Display Settings page.

We’re investigating reports of the Chinese version of multiple games not working.

We’re investigating an issue where region settings are being reset on upgrade for some Insiders.

Known issues for Developers

If you install any of the recent builds from the Fast ring and switch to the Slow ring, optional content such as enabling developer mode will fail. You will have to remain in the Fast ring to add/install/enable optional content. This is because optional content will only install on builds approved for specific rings.

REMINDER: Getting the latest Windows 10 app updates

We have locked down the inbox apps in 19H1. These simplified versions of some of the inbox apps are what will ship with 19H1 when it is released. As a result, Insiders may have noticed that some features have disappeared from these apps. This was probably most noticeable with the Photos app. Insiders can get these features back by going into the settings of an inbox app like Photos and clicking the “Join preview” button.